National Geographic 2015 Adventurer of the Year

“If anything went wrong, there was no way that a rescue could get to us that day, and there was a storm moving in the next day,” remembers ski mountaineer Kit DesLauriers.

DesLauriers and her team were ten hours into their ascent of Mount Chamberlin in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), 300 miles from the nearest airport. The snow was unconsolidated, making them sink to their bellies with every step. Loose rocks threatened them from above. They were highly exposed, and they weren’t even sure if the ridge they were on led to the summit.